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FODDC's cabinet have been looking into ways pest control can continue, one being to make it free for people claiming specific types of benefits.

However, district councillors last night slammed the cabinet members Richard Leppington and Roger James for not presenting enough of a solution for the service to carry on.

Both confirmed the executive may make the pest-control service means-tested for people on benefits, meaning residents will have to prove they cannot afford to live on their income in order to qualify.

But they admitted that they hadn't looked at the finer details and the chairman of the overview and scrutiny committee, Councillor Patrick Molyneux (C, Hewelsfield and Woolaston), said the cabinet members "don't know enough to set benchmarks" on specific low-level of income.

Because of the uncertainty councillors unanimously agreed to order the district counci's cabinet to review their options to keep the service going.

Those recommendations include undergoing "proper" financial assessment, keeping the service in-house and analyse how pest control services are supplied by partner councils under Publica.

Councillor Hogan insisted that the council should look into investing in the service into a product one-day usable across the three other partner authorities: West Oxfordshire District Council, Cotswold District Council and Cheltenham Borough Council.

The four authorities currently operate under a super-council called Publica but do not share pest control services among them.